1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stylus removal mechanism for use in removing a stylus from portable computing devices.
2. Background Art
Portable computing devices, such as palm-top computers, hand-held computers, laptop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), have become increasingly popular. Many of these portable computing devices include an electronic stylus or pen that can be utilized by a user to input information into the computer or to select menu options or otherwise navigate through the graphical user interfaces of an operating system or the current software application.
Currently, the stylus is either clipped to the outer housing of the portable computing device, or stored inside the housing of the portable computing device. Clipping the stylus to the outside of the housing provides convenient access to the stylus, but also carries the disadvantage that the stylus can be easily dislodged from the clip by inadvertent contact with objects, such as the inner surfaces of a carrying case or other objects in the carrying case. Storing the stylus inside the housing provides more security to the stylus, but suffers from the disadvantage that the user must take additional steps in order to release the stylus from its place of storage. For example, in one case, a user may be required to reach into the housing to grasp the stylus. In another example, a user may be required to push the pen further into the housing in order to activate a "door lock release" that will push the stylus out of the housing when the user pushes the pen further into the housing.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple and convenient mechanism and method for providing a stylus to a user in a manner that avoids and overcomes the disadvantages set forth previously.